According to one of the popular theories, Jupiter serves as a giant shield for the Earth, attracting wandering space debris left after the formation of the solar system.
Former NASA employee Kevin Graser has been trying to debunk this theory for years. He has written several scientific papers on the subject, including an article titled "Jupiter as a Sniper, Not a Shield," published in 2008. In each subsequent work, Grazer proves that instead of being our protector, Jupiter is, albeit indirectly, more of a threat.
In Graser's work, new models are presented that demonstrate the complex astrophysical processes necessary to transform distant celestial bodies into local threats. In collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of South Queensland, Grazer showed how objects on the scattered disk - a ring that intersects the Kuiper belt - are influenced by Jupiter.
Grazer also demonstrated how the Centaurs - a group of icy bodies in orbit beyond Jupiter and Neptune - are being pushed by a giant in the solar system into potentially hazardous objects to Earth, including the Jupiter Family Comet (JFC).
The researchers used a tool from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which allowed them to simulate the position of Jupiter and its moons at any given time. Then this space was "seeded" with ice bodies located in random orbits. The model confirmed the long-standing hypothesis that the Centaurs feed on the scattered disk and that Jupiter and its moons play an important role in this process.
“In our models, most of the objects that become JFCs are first captured by Jupiter in so-called temporary capture orbits, or in TSC - orbits that circle the planet several times and then leave it often leaving it in a completely different orbit. We know TSCs are happening - comet P / 111 Helin-Roman-Crockett spent over 11 years in orbit around Jupiter in the 70s and 80s and will be captured again in the 2070s. The exit geometry from these events determines whether an object is in JFC orbit or not,”explains Grazer.
Research co-author Jonty Horner adds that Jupiter and even Saturn can still act as a shield for the Earth, but only for objects that are between these giants and our planet. For cosmic bodies in the outer solar system, the situation can be reversed.
“One interesting thing that our work highlights is that Saturn and to a lesser extent Uranus and Neptune also have their own families of comets, but they are much smaller than those controlled by Jupiter,” Horner adds.
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The researchers emphasize that there are hundreds of objects that can be potentially dangerous to the Earth, and scientists should take a closer look at what is happening in the vicinity of Jupiter.
NASA is currently considering two missions to study the Centaurs near Jupiter. If these missions are approved, we will get more information about the origin of the solar system, but, perhaps more importantly, they could tell us about possible threats to Earth from Jupiter.